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Texas is “exceptionally aggressive” when it comes to trying to lure jobs from elsewhere, especially California, but the Lone Star State’s financial enticements usually aren’t effective or necessary, a new report says.

Companies that relocate to Texas may be doing so for many reasons, such as finding a suitable workforce, being close to a research university or seeking a “right-to-work” environment that’s adverse to unions, and they may have moved without getting government money, according a report Thursday by the non-profit Good Jobs First. It also found that almost all job growth comes from start-ups and expansions, not from luring out-of-state jobs.

Economic development incentives, like grants from the Texas Enterprise Fund, and the out-of-state jobs they seek to attract have a small impact on the state’s overall economy. (Side note here: the Legislature’s initial budget proposals don’t include any new money for the enterprise fund, created in 2003 at the urging of Gov. Rick Perry. Money could be added later in the legislative session.)

Austin has been a particularly alluring spot for companies because of its established high-tech community. “With so much going for it, subsidies hardly seemed justified,” said the report from the Washington, D.C.-based group.

A number of states engage in job “poaching” and in shell games in which existing jobs are moved from another state but are classified as new, the report said. Along with Texas, some of the other states called out in the report are Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey and Georgia.

Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed did not comment on the specifics of the report, but in response to it said the governor will “continue working with the Legislature to keep Texas’ economic climate strong and incentives competitive.”